Mikel Arteta admits he has not treated Eddie Nketiah fairly

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted he has not treated Eddie Nketiah well following the striker's brace in the Gunners' massive 4-2 victory over Chelsea on Wednesday.

Nketiah's strikes at Stamford Bridge helped Arsneal re-establish their top-four credentials after a run of three straight losses, going level on points with Tottenham in fourth.

They'll have the opportunity to leapfrog their rivals on Saturday with a point or three against Manchester United before Spurs later travel to Brentford.

Senior option Alexandre Lacazette has largely been trusted up front since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's exclusion and subsequent departure to Barcelona, but the Frenchman's struggles with illness saw Nketiah given the nod at Southampton and again at Chelsea.

His first league goals of the season helped fire the Gunners to a surprise win over a poor Chelsea and Arteta said he hadn't been fair to Nketiah throughout the season.

He revealed: "If there is one player that I have been unfair with I think it’s him.

"He has given me every right to do something different, and if Eddie doesn’t play more, it’s my fault and because as a manager I missed something or I haven’t had the courage to play him more. Today he showed me more how wrong I was."

Nketiah is out of contract at the end of the season and recently reiterated his desire to play regular football.

He said: "I am under contract until the end of the season but my deal runs out. Obviously there have been talks and offers of a new contract but at the moment my aim is to play football and play regularly. That is my ambition and that is what I hope to do.

"But at the same time I am at Arsenal, I love Arsenal. I am just trying to focus on the season so much and make sure I finish that in a good way and then sit down and see what I think is the best opportunity to take those steps and develop."


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Source : 90min